Finding Rest

Rest. Why can't we seem to find enough? Or, rather, when we have times of rest, why is it unfulfilling? 

Answering these questions is my mission after this weeks' sermon, Jesus-Ultimate Rest Stop, at my wonderful church, The Waters, calling me to action. 

Wait, making a more active effort to rest more?  Maybe I'm missing the point...

I admit, I am one of those people our pastor talked about as someone who feels guilty about resting. It makes me feel unproductive, lazy, and unfulfilled. Maybe that explains some of the onset of antsy-ness I'm feeling awaiting my normally busy schedule of a teacher of freshman.

But time and time again, rest is mentioned in the Bible as something that God not only wants us to have, but something He modeled for us in the Creation story. 

Slow down. Take a breath. Relax.

So the passage that has resonated with me the most since Sunday's sermon is actually Jesus talking about rest. After preaching about the people whose cities that had seen some of Jesus' most impressive miracles, but still didn't believe, Jesus prayed with the people, saying,

"Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Put my yoke upon your shoulders--it may appear heavy at first, but it is perfectly fitted to your curves. Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. When you are yoked to Me, your weary soul finds rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." --Matthew 11:28-30 (The Voice)

The original word for rest in this context is anapausis, meaning cessation of movement or labor, intermission, or (most interesting to me) recreation. Even further into the root word, the word means to refresh, to recover strength, and to keep quiet. 

How many of us really have this kind of rest as a normal part of our lives? 

This is kind of what my life feels like most of the time:

In our lives, the stresses of this world tend to make
us feel alone in our burdens and overwhelmed.

And how ironic does this metaphor seem that by taking up a yoke, a tool used specifically for labor, do we find rest, an ending of labor...or even fun? I mean really, how have I missed this before? 

Does that throw anyone else for a loop? 

P.S. I've always pictured a yoke as used with animals, but googling the word pulled up pictures of a carrying pole, used frequently even to this day specifically in East Asia (sometimes called in our society, a milkmaid's yoke). 

Looking at this image, I imagine the toll that such a tool would take on my own body: cumbersome, awkward, and difficult, carrying weight my arms can't support with my shoulders instead. By yourself, a painful, and isolating way to work.

Read Jesus' words carefully: He wants us to yoke together with him. So maybe it is supposed to be a little like the yoke pictured below.

Jesus wants us to yoke together with him.

Logically speaking though, wouldn't the animals share equal burden? Even if one is stronger, aren't they still teamed up? I'd hate to see what my pairing with Jesus would do to the land if we were plowing the soil together. Needless to say my work would look like a mess in comparison. Talk about feeling inadequate, even on my best days!

But that still doesn't explain how my burden is lighter than the one who I walk alongside with.

Maybe it's because Jesus has, in fact, already carried the weight of my sins, my guilt, my pride... to the cross, and my burdens and my stress on a daily basis in my walk with him. It's done! I don't have to carry them as a believer. His power and sacrifice takes the place of my own burden, making it lighter, peaceful, and restful for me. He urges us to learn from him: walk in the way He did when he was here. He'll take my share of the burden, and all he asks is that I walk alongside Him and tell others about Him.Jesus looks me in the eye and says, "I got this, Amanda. You don't have to worry about the pressures upon you or trying to make up for the bad things you've done in your past. I've got it under control and I forgive you; find rest in your soul for the responsibility I take on your behalf." 

Jesus carries the weight of our sins on the cross, bearing our burdens.

I mean, wow. Can there be anything more beautiful than that? What a wonderful way to understand a little bit better the meaning of grace. That's what gives me the lighter burden to carry. Not a physical burden as the metaphor may suggest, but a spiritual one.  Jesus says that in binding myself to him in this way I "will find rest for [my] soul."
Maybe that's what's missing in our search for rest. We think we need more sleep, more vacation hours, more beautiful beaches and landscapes to help us "recover" from the stresses of this world. But the spiritual rest that comes from our relationship with the Lord is so much more relieving than 8 hours of sleep a night or a weekend getaway. And spiritual rest can transcend the weights of this fast-paced world we live in and help us to live with a spirit of peace and joy even amidst the busy lives we live.

And in this promise, I take rest. 

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Other verses on rest to encourage you. Spend sometime this week meditating on the truths given to us about the rest that God provides: 

"The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul." --Psalm 23: 1-3

"The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest." --Isaiah 32:17-18 

"Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses." --1 Kings 8:56